The third party smear machines

Folks in Alabama are asking what the Center for Individual Freedom (CFIF) is. They are also asking why are they interested in the Alabama Supreme Court race this year. For the uninformed amongst us, CFIC is a corporate-funded, tort-reform group that relies largely on negative campaign advertising leveled against Supreme Court candidates in states like Alabama. Founded in 1998, CFIF is little more than a store-front operation based outside Washington D.C. It’s run by a group of lobbyists, political operatives and corporate lawyers who refuse to disclose the organization’s donors. There is a very simple reason why it won’t say where its money comes from. Its funds come from the giant oil, insurance, and drug companies whose goal has been to destroy the civil justice system in this country. They are all interested in protecting themselves in litigation caused by their wrongdoing.

CFIF has repeatedly run afoul of elections laws in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and elsewhere. It has been taken to court repeatedly by elections officials who were trying to put a halt to their illegal campaign activities conducted in states’ judicial elections. When you consider that CFIF enjoys tax exempt status, its involvement in partisan politics is wrong – can’t be explained – and shouldn’t be tolerated. I am shocked that the Justice Department doesn’t put a stop to the group’s political smear tactics in states like Alabama.

If you want more information concerning the history of this well-financed front group, consider the following:

ExxonMobil Lawyers run the show at CFIF. The ex-CFIF Secretary and Treasurer Guy Vander Jagt was a lawyer with a Cleveland law firm, Baker & Hostetler LLP, whose top clients include ExxonMobil and Chevron, in addition to big insurance companies, banks and Wall Street players like Morgan Stanley, Progressive, State Farm and Wachovia.

CFIF has lobbied Pro-Oil Positions to Congress. The CFIF’s high-powered lobbyists fought against higher taxes on record oil company profits and renewable fuels. It has worked on numerous projects to benefit the oil companies.

Extraordinary Financing from Oil-Backed Foundations. CFIF has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Carthage Foundation. Carthage is part of the Richard Mellon Scaife foundations, which are in turn funded by family oil (Gulf Oil), chemical, banking and other corporate interests.

In its earliest days, tobacco money was put into CFIF and then funneled into political races. CFIF operatives sought funding from the major tobacco companies as they fought state lawsuits.

CFIF has close ties to Gambling Interests. The original executive director of CFIF is Eric Schippers, executive vice president of Penn National Gaming, one of the country’s major slots parlor and racetrack operators.

CFIF General Counsel Tied to National Manufacturers Association. CFIF lawyer Renee Giachino was also a top lawyer with the American Justice Partnership, a law “association” created by the National Manufacturers Association.

CFIF Partner – the American Justice Partnership – Routinely Give Low Rankings to Judges it Does Not Support. In a report called the Activist Journey of the Florida Supreme Court an affiliate of CFIF rated state judges in Florida on whether they expanded or “made law” or whether they were conservative and “exercised judicial restraint.” These phony ratings proved to be very effective.

Pro-Corporate, Neo-Conservative. According to New York political media, the Center works closely with “pro-corporate and neo-conservative” groups such as the National Center for Policy Research, which receives hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding from ExxonMobil.

In the Alabama Supreme Court race this year, giant corporate donors – including ExxonMobil – have funneled millions of dollars into our state through CFIF knowing that outfit won’t have to disclose either the amounts received or the names of donors. While that is permissible under Alabama law, it’s still as wrong as wrong can be. What interest could these corporations possibly have in the Alabama Supreme Court? Why do they want to hide their names from the voters? These are questions CFIF won’t answer and neither will its corporate donors! But, these are answers that the voters should have before casting their ballots.